No word on Malema court date, venue
2012-09-23 17:30
Johannesburg - A date and venue for ousted ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema's expected court appearance has not been confirmed with his lawyer, she said on Sunday.
"We have not received confirmation from authorities on a date or venue," Nicqui Galaktiou told Sapa.
City Press reported that Malema was due to appear in the Polokwane Regional Court on Wednesday on fraud and money laundering charges.
The Sunday Times said he would appear along with five individuals and four companies.
However, Galaktiou said that "even though the media has been publishing all this information", his camp did not even know what charges Malema might face.
"We do not have charges," she said.
Last Friday, an arrest warrant was issued for Malema.
The City Press reported earlier that Malema faced charges of money laundering, corruption and fraud relating to his Ratanang Family Trust and its share holding in On-Point Engineering, a company that allegedly made millions from Limpopo government tenders.
On Sunday, National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Bulelwa Makeke refused to comment on a possible court appearance.
"Until he appears in court, then we can talk about it," (sic) she said.
Fraudulent tender
Also on Sunday, City Press reported that Public Protector Thuli Madonsela had found that Malema made his millions from a Thuli-blasts-Jujus-tender-20120922">fraudulent tender. Although Madonsela could not find evidence that Malema interfered in the tendering process, she found that his Ratanang Family Trust benefited "improperly", the newspaper reported.
This was according to a copy of Madonsela's provisional report into the R52m tender won by On-Point Engineers from the Limpopo roads and transport department.
Malema's family trust was one of the two shareholders in On-Point.
The newspaper also reported in another article that the SA Revenue Service (Sars) had obtained a R16m judgment against Malema for unpaid taxes.
Sars spokesperson Adrian Lackay confirmed that the judgment was obtained in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on 11 September.
He told the newspaper the amount included unpaid taxes, penalties and interest.
- SAPA
